In the following article, Covington resident Tonya Carlone writes about a local effort in a national fund-raiser benefitting the fight against Duchenne muscular dystrophy, an illness that has stricken her 2-year-old son, Gavin. Carlone and her husband, Anthony, also have a 4-year-old daughter, Isabella:
On Saturday, Oct. 25, there is a very important event taking place. It’s called “Coach to Cure MD,” sponsored by Parentprojectmd.org and the American College Football Association. Many college coaches from around the nation will be talking about Duchenne muscular dystrophy during football games, including coach Tyrone Willingham of the University of Washington.
Our family has been affected by this disease in very profound ways. In 1989, my cousin Mark lost his battle with this disease. Then in November 2007, our son, Gavin, was diagnosed with the same devastating disease known as Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Duchenne results in progressive loss of muscle strength. The progressive muscle weakness leads to serious medical problems.
Most boys are wheelchair-bound by age 12 and then leads to severe complications of the heart and lungs. Young men with this disease typically only live into their early 20s.
DMD is severely underfunded. We need to change the outcome for Gavin and thousands of boys like him. We are teaming up with Papa Murphy’s in Covington. They will donate $1 for every pizza bought on Oct. 25 to Parentprojectmd.org. Make sure when you buy the pizza that you tell the cashier that you support muscular dystrophy. Then the purchase of the pizza will count for the fund-raiser.
With your help, there will be viable therapies to manage this disease. We need your help to stop this devastating disorder that robs young men of their mobility, their independence, and sadly, their life. Please help us and buy a pizza on Oct. 25, then watch the UW Huskies play Notre Dame.
We would like to thank Papa Murphy’s, Covington Copy it..Mail it and Kevin “The Busman” on Qcountry 102.9 FM for their generosity. Copy it…Mail it donated the paper as well as printed the fliers for us. Kevin the Busman is an old friend of mine and will be doing a few radio spots for us about the fund-raiser at Papa Murphy’s.
